"The prophet gives a thundering message, that they might be terrified and have some convictions and inclinations to repent; but it seems that the false prophets, the false priests, went about stifling people's convictions, and when they were hurt or a little terrified, they were daubing over the wound, telling them that Jeremiah was but an enthusiastic preacher, that there could be no such thing as war among them, and saying to people, Peace, Peace, be still, when the prophet told them there was no peace."
George Whitefield

07.01.07

Sinner, What Have You Been Saved From?

Posted in Witnessing at 4:59 pm by TruthofmyKing

2 months ago, I witnessed to a man who was a professer of Christ; that is to say that he called himself by the title of “Christian.”

“Do you believe you are going to heaven?” I asked.  “Yes” he replied.  “Why?……What is the reason for this hope that you have.”

1 Peter 3:15

15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;

NASB

He answered and said “Well, I guess it is because I am a good person and I asked Jesus Christ in my heart.”

This usual and customary answer has roots that reach deep into the bowels of hell.  I cannot go any longer without exposing the deeds of satan.

If we were good, we would need not a Savior.  What would this Saviour do; save us from our goodness?

You see, the very foundation of being a Christian is to first recognize your own sin; therfore realizing you need a Savior.  You know, the word “sin” has become so diluted and useless in the world……let me restate my sentence: The very idea of being a Christian is to recognize that you are wicked in the eyes of the Lord.

I am sure that some of you don’t like the word “wicked” but it is true:

Gen 13:13

13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord.

NASB

Paul labors so hard to make sure we all understand that we are under sin:

Rom 3:10-13

10 as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 Destruction and misery are in their paths, 17 And the path of peace have they not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

NASB

We are wicked.  We are a vile race.  We are sinners.  And do not think to yourself that the above passage’s do not apply to you:

1 John 1:10

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

NASB

When you say you are going to heaven because you are good, you make the Lord a liar.  In your mind, you have made His sacrifice of no use.  He died to save you from your vileness, your filthiness, your sin. 

You see, the only way that you will not find yourself eternally perishing in hell is to turn and repent (change from the heart) of being that vile, filthy man, who most assuredly, is known in heaven as a sinner.

Luke 13:5

5 “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

NASB

Now if you are “good” (as you say), what is it that you are saved from?  What is it that you are going to repent from?  From your own goodness? 

No, the Lord is our Righteousness!   Without Him, there is none Righteous, No, not one!  

So how did we get here?  It is quite simple…..It is the message that is being preached! 

In the words of a famous evangelists “We have preached the cure without first preaching the disease.”  That is how people can say they have “come to the Savior” without ever realizing they needed to be saved.  No one has ever convinced them of their disease.

This is not new, listen to what Martin Luther had to say in his day:

“Satan, the god of all dissension stirs up daily new sects. And last of all which of all others I should never have foreseen or once suspected, he has raised up a sect such as teach that men should not be terrified by the law, but gently exhorted by the preaching of the grace of Christ.”

How can one understand Grace without first understanding condemnation? 

I want so much to tell you about the goodness of God, but a man first has to sow seed before he can reap.  Even then, one sows and another reaps.  But I will not have you deceived, in order to sow seed you must first plow.  No farmer throws his seed on top of the soil, it does not take root.  Till up the heart of an evil man, show him the folly of his way, let him tremble before the Holy law of God, then plant the seed of salvation. 

THE PRICE HAS BEEN PAID……….YOUR DEBT PAID IN FULL! 

That man will then love much because there is no doubt, that if we truly understand this teaching, we have all been forgiven much.

For the Truth of my King

 

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